Public libraries | UK | Volunteers

Readers checking a book out of the village library might not immediately notice much of a difference, but Congresbury is the latest public library
to haven been handed over “to the community”. You may be used to
libraries being run by volunteers – maybe your local is – but this
structure is relatively new. Over the last decade, as many libraries
began closing across the UK due to swingeing cuts to local authority
funding by central government – 121 libraries closed last year alone – some have instead been handed over by councils to the community to run.

Since librarian Ian Anstice began charting the cuts to UK libraries on his campaigning website Public Libraries News in 2010, 500 of the UK’s 3,850 remaining libraries
have now been taken over, at least in part, by volunteers. “I’ve been
looking at the count going up steadily for the last few years,” says
Anstice. “In 2010, there were a handful – perhaps 10 in the whole
country. So this is quite a staggering change.” Read more: